WEATHERFORD, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State University Rangers softball team headed to Weatherford to continue their four-game series Tuesday afternoon against inner Great American Conference rivals Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

Senior Morgan Kirk and freshman Lindsey McElroy led the team at the plate for the Rangers. Kirk went 4-for-6 on the day with two runs and 1 RBI while going 3-for-4 in the second game. McElroy went 3-for-4 at the plate with the only double on the day with one run and one RBI. Alexus Bailey and Kalie Johnson were the only other Rangers that earned more than one hit on the day as they went 2-for-6 and 2-for-7 respectively.

Five other Rangers tallied a hit on the day in Morgan La Neve, Alexa Moses, Jada Overby, Taylor Russell, and Jayden Flowers.

Game 1

The Rangers struggled against SWOSU, pitching through the first game with only five hits and one run.

After the Bulldogs shut down the Black and Red in a one, two, three out top of the first, SWOSU jumped onto Ranger pitching staff in the first inning. Southwestern took advantage of a few Ranger miscues in the field in order to earn eight runs on six hits.

A lead-off single by La Neve got the Rangers to rally back in the top of the second inning. Kirk reached base on a Fielder’s Choice getting La Neve out on the play. Ashlie Green was able to advance Kirk to second base as she reached on a hit by pitch, her fifth of the year. A deep RBI double off the left field fence by McElroy allowed Kirk to cross the plate, making it 8-1.

The Bulldogs responded as they tacked on five more runs in the bottom half of the second inning to extend their lead over the Rangers to 13-1.

Johnson led off the top of the third inning with a single but was left on the bases in Northwestern’s half of the third inning.

Southwestern scored their final run in the bottom of the third inning to reach the final score of 14-1 over the Rangers. Neither team scored another run in through fourth and fifth innings to give the Bulldogs the first game with their final score of 14-1 in five innings, due to the eight after five run rule.

Game 2

The second game was much different form the first as NWOSU refused to take the series loss against their inner GAC rivals. The Rangers tallied 11 hits through seven innings and earned six runs.

Southwestern scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning on only one hit, reaching the plate on an errant throw as the runner tried to steal third base. The Bulldogs took the lead with a score of 1-0.

The Rangers rallied back in their half of the second inning. Kirk led off the inning with a single through the right-side of the infield and was able to reach second on a wild pitch. Kirk was able to score as two more throwing errors helped her cross the plate tying the game at 1-1.

Northwestern’s defense continued to hold strong through the second and third innings as the Rangers prevented Southwestern from earning anymore more runs.

A lone single from Kirk, her second of the game, was all the Black and Red could muster in the top of the fourth inning.

SWOSU rallied back in the bottom of the fourth as the Bulldogs were able to get a little momentum started as they scored one run on three hits to give them a 2-1 lead over Northwestern but couldn’t hold onto that lead for long.

The back-and-forth continued as the two teams battled it out. The Rangers were able to tie the game up in the top of the fifth inning with a lead-off Moses single up the middle of the infield. Roberson came in to pinch run and was able to advance to second on a sacrifice bunt by McElroy. Overby earned her first RBI of the game as she drove a single into right field, plating Roberson to tie the game at 2-2.

The Black and Red continued their momentum as they held the Bulldogs from scoring any more runs through the bottom of the sixth inning.

Three singles by Bailey, Flowers, and Russell started some momentum in the top of the sixth inning but ran themselves out of the inning leaving the score sitting at 2-2.

SWOSU scored two runs as they took advantage of the errors of the Ranger defense. The Bulldogs also earned two hits, giving them a 4-2 lead over the Rangers.

However, Northwestern wasn’t done yet. McElroy was able to muscle a pitch through the right side of the infield. An error by the Bulldogs not only allowed Ashlie Green to reach safely on a fielder’s choice but advanced McElroy all the way to third base. This started a huge rally for the Rangers.

Johnson, Bailey and Kirk all earned RBI singles as they peppered right field to give the Rangers a lead of 5-4. A wild pitch and a throwing error and allowed Bailey to score the Black-and-Red’s final run of the inning extending their lead to 6-4.

Southwestern answered again in the bottom of the seventh a triple, double, and two singles, one being a walk-off scored the Bulldog’s final three runs giving them the win with a final score of 7-6.

Northwestern will play back at home today for an inner GAC conference series against East Central University. The first pitch of the doubleheader will be set for 3 p.m.